Sylvia Park Town Centre Development Moves Forward

Kiwi Income Property Trust today signalled a
key step forward in its planned development of a 'new
generation' town centre on its 24 hectare Sylvia Park site
in Mt Wellington, Auckland. The concept encompasses a mix
of integrated retail, office, entertainment, educational,
residential and community uses and is located on a major
public and private transport hub.

Chief Executive of the
Manager of the Trust, Angus McNaughton, said the lodgement
this week of a resource consent application for the first
$300 million retail stage of 55,000m2 marked an important
milestone in the development.

"Sylvia Park is an
extraordinary project in terms of its vision, scale,
complexity and exceptional site attributes, and it has been
subject to intensive planning and consideration over the
past five years. Substantial progress has also been made
with other development hurdles, including project funding,
construction contracts, and major tenant agreements, with
the Trust firmly committed to moving forward with the
project."

Mr McNaughton said the Trust's development
exposure would be minimised by the staging of the
development, anchor tenant pre-leasing and obtaining
guaranteed certainty with construction costs. He said the
project was consistent with the Trust's continuing focus on
adding value to its portfolio and reweighting it towards the
high performing retail sector to achieve optimum short and
long-term gain.

"Retail opportunities of the quality,
nature and superior growth potential of Sylvia Park are very
rare, and the town centre concept with its location in the
heart of an area targeted by Auckland City for major
intensification of residential use makes it unique in New
Zealand."

More than 500,000 Aucklanders live within a 20
minute drive of the site, which is located on the Auckland
isthmus at the intersection of the Southern motorway, the
South-eastern highway, the North Island main trunk railway
and the proposed Eastern Transport Corridor.

Mr
McNaughton said the fully completed development, which will
ultimately accommodate in excess of 5,000 full time jobs,
will be responding to the diverse present and future needs
of one of the fastest growing demographic catchments in the
country, and will be a catalyst for other developments in
the area.

"The town centre concept is essentially about
creating a central core for the community, a place where
people live, work, meet, shop, learn and play. The design
approach respects and builds on the Maori and European
heritage of the site and meets the rising public interest in
a return to open public spaces as opposed to totally
enclosed malls".

The centre, which will incorporate its
own railway station, will feature bold New Zealand design
with a mix of internal and external precincts reflecting
Auckland's distinctive topography and climate.

Mr
McNaughton said the Trust's recent successful redevelopment
of its Northlands Shopping Centre in Christchurch was
testimony to its ability to add value to its portfolio and
to achieve the Sylvia Park vision. The $91 million
expansion of Northlands, which made it New Zealand's largest
enclosed shopping centre at 41,000 m2, was achieved on time
and within budget, has an occupancy rate of 99.6% and
achieved a revaluation gain of $16.2 million, $13.2 million
ahead of the prospectus forecast.

Given the scale of the
Sylvia Park project from the perspective of capital
availability and risk management, the Trust is considering
various funding options, including the introduction of a
joint venture partner. Mr McNaughton said discussions are
in progress with a number of potential partners.

Approval
of the resource consent application for Sylvia Park is
expected later this year, with construction on the first
stage of the retail development due to commence in 2005.

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